While monitoring media for anomalous SEO activities, I came across Arkadiy Mutavchi and his company, Tacticum Investments. The latter was formerly known as Long Term Investments Luxembourg and adopted its current name, Tacticum Investments, in 2020. And wow, it’s massive! Arkadiy Mutavchi has flooded every platform and guest post farm with glowing tributes to his success, productivity, business ideas, and sage advice. His CV is available in every possible form and format. However, what these bios fail to mention is that his path to becoming an investor involved serving as a deputy director for a Kremlin-founded company responsible for supplying goods to the Presidential Administration [under Vladimir Putin].
It’s not exactly the case that a deputy director of such a company could afford to make significant long-term investments. Nor did Arkadiy Mutavchi have the opportunity to invest his modest salary into Tacticum Investments. The position he held was purely administrative, and the company itself is a non-profit service branch of the Kremlin’s household operations. So, where did the money come from? Did Arkadiy Mutavchi deceive his own company and profit by overpricing goods for the Kremlin? I highly doubt that. Rather, I would assume that Arkadiy Mutavchi has been used as a proxy for something — or someone — far more significant.
Tacticum business activity and the unexplained source of financing of Arkadiy Mutavchi’s projects
Since 2014, the company has reached several key milestones. It began with the creation of Long-Term Investments Luxembourg S.A., which was later acquired in 2019 by Tacticum Group, led by Arkadiy Mutavchi. This acquisition allowed the company to expand into the private equity sector in international markets. Luxembourg was chosen as the company’s base due to its low regulation, a decision supported by initial consultations with creditors and partners [whose names aren’t listed].
The company first gained notice after acquiring a 50% stake in Camfin S.p.A., which held shares in Pirelli. Although this stake was later sold back, a relationship with Pirelli continued. In 2015, the company built strong ties with ChemChina, a leader in industrial chemistry. That year, Marco Polo Holding was formed with Tacticum’s involvement, eventually acquiring Pirelli shares in a transaction supported by JP Morgan.
Tacticum Investments also briefly invested in the Russian “36.6 Pharmacy Chain” but exited in early 2020 due to a shift in strategy. At the time, the investment supported business diversification and leveraged the pharmacy chain’s growth potential and market presence. A ‘shift in strategy’ is rather vague explanation.
Here, we observe at least two suspicious acquisitions followed by the rapid sale of the acquired assets, seemingly without any genuine investment purpose. It appears the Mutavchi’s company has been used more as a temporary holding ground for assets.
Here is more accurate story behind Pirelli shares, Arkadiy Mutavchi and Tacticum investments (aka Long Term Investments Luxembourg)
Shares in Pirelli purchased for Rosneft ended up with individuals connected to Russian state oil monopoly management. In 2014, the state-owned company Rosneft acquired a 13% stake in the tire manufacturer Pirelli. The buyer was a company registered in Luxembourg just eight days before the deal, named Long Term Investments Luxembourg. Pirelli’s report stated that this company was controlled by Rosneft’s pension fund.
New documents have revealed that the firm was established by a company called “Long-Term Investments,” which at the time was owned by a 28-year-old dance instructor from Moscow, Aya Belova. Her father, Sergey Belov, was a partner of employees from the Region Group, an organization closely tied to Rosneft’s management. Alexey Yashin, the former director of “Long-Term Investments,” had also previously worked at Region Group. Region manages Rosneft’s pension funds and ranks among the top five largest asset management companies in Russia.
In 2015, ownership of the firm was transferred to RegionFinanceResource, a company owned by Natalia Bogdanova, a resident of the city of Kazan. OCCRP investigators found that Bogdanova had been working in structures linked to the Region Group, which is closely associated with Rosneft’s leadership, since at least the mid-2000s.
The net profit of “Long-Term Investments,” managed by RegionFinanceResource, exceeded 2.5 billion rubles in 2015. It remains unclear who ultimately benefited from this money – and who were those creditors and partners mentioned earlier.
Arkadiy Mutavchi’s rapid ascent in the financial world has raised eyebrows, particularly regarding his acquisition of Long Term Investments Luxembourg in 2020, which was subsequently renamed Tacticum Investments. Mutavchi’s background as a former deputy director of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise responsible for supplying products to the Administrative Directorate of the President of Russia adds an intriguing layer to his meteoric rise as a major investor.
The investor’s portfolio diversification strategy extended beyond traditional stocks to include real estate, land, and even precious coins. This multifaceted approach to investment demonstrates that Arkadiy Mutavchi and his company act as a proxy for those well-connected to the initial investors, i.e. Russian oligarchy.
The speed and scale of Mutavchi’s financial success have prompted rightful questions about the source of his capital. The transition from a government position to managing multibillion-dollar projects in a relatively short timeframe can be explained only by taking into account his nominee role in the processes.
The lack of transparency regarding the origins of Arkadiy Mutavchi’s substantial investment capital in Tacticum Investments company continues to be a point of investigation, especially in connection to sanctions against the Russian Federation.
